


Miscommunications

by Batsutousai



Series: The OT3 Saga [2]
Category: British Actor RPF, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Holographic Violence, M/M, Multi, Open Relationships, Talk of Sexual Situations, they deserve each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-21
Updated: 2013-04-21
Packaged: 2017-12-09 03:00:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/769183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Batsutousai/pseuds/Batsutousai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony and Tom take a few hours to get acquainted and make a space for the other in their separate lives with Loki.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Miscommunications

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaim Her:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Marvel. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The characters of Thomas "Tom" Hiddleston is based on a real person, and no offence is intended; this is only for the amusement of myself and other like-minded (read: mentally ill) fans.
> 
>  **A/N:** A continuation of _Beyond the Boundaries_ , a fic started purely for the threesome, which turned into a monster of backstory.  
> This fic picks up the morning after the threesome, when Tony and Tom finally get the chance to talk to each other without Loki hanging over their shoulders. It's from Tom's PoV. And while there is no sex in this piece, sexual situations are discussed a few times.  
> I did not, originally, intend to bring the other Avengers in, but it happened anyway. XP

Tony was already awake when Tom finally saw fit to open his eyes. The Avenger was pressing his fingers against the screen of a tablet on a chair next to the far side of the bed, a dark earpiece just visible from the current angle. It didn't take him but a moment to glance up and meet Tom's eyes, clearly being warned by some sixth sense – or JARVIS, more likely – that his guest was awake. The inventor's eyes flickered briefly to Loki, then he stood, setting the tablet to one side. 

Tom, too, looked at Loki. The god looked peaceful in his sleep, but there were bruises of exhaustion under his eyes. Tom knew Loki's travel between the universes left him drained – Loki had seen fit to explain why he always remained at _least_ three days – and he'd already guessed that travelling with a mortal in tow would exhaust him further. Tom was familiar with Loki's habit to sleep like death, once he finally let himself relax during his first evening, so he wasn't surprised to see the god still asleep, though he was often awake and making a mess of Tom's kitchen before he rose himself. 

Tom glanced back towards Tony and the other human motioned for him to get out of the bed. Tom did, blushing as it sunk in that he was still naked, and in the home of another. It was...a little strange, but not anywhere near as awkward as he'd have expected it would be, before he'd begun sleeping with Loki. 

Tony's lips turned with amusement, and he took one _very obvious_ look up Tom's body, smile widening as Tom's blush deepened, then he reached into a drawer that had opened seamlessly from the wall for him. He pulled out a pair of tracksuit bottoms and tossed them at Tom. 

A quick test showed they would definitely fit him, and Tom entertained a moment's amusement at the fact that Tony had clothing in Loki's size in his room. (Not that he'd have expected anything else.) 

At least partially dressed, Tom was willing to follow Tony from the bedroom, pausing for one last glance over his shoulder at the still-sleeping god. Loki hadn't moved – barely appeared to be breathing, from this distance – and Tom couldn't help but wonder how much longer that would last. 

"JARVIS says no one else is about, really," Tony commented once the door had fallen shut behind them. "So we shouldn't have to answer any awkward questions about who you are. Not that they usually ask questions about new faces around here, not when Loki's not expected back for another day, but you don't really have an unfamiliar face." He gave Tom a considering look. 

Tom smiled at him, shying away from thoughts of his eventual introduction to the other Avengers. "I dare say the reactions would be amusing, however." 

Tony's lips twisted a smirk before he turned away. "Amusing, until Clint decided to see if you could take an arrow." 

Tom frowned. "I was led to believe things between Loki and Agent Barton were far less tense." 

"They have a treaty of mutual torment, is how Loki likes to put it, yes," Tony agreed, glancing back at Tom again with a slightly closed expression. He took a moment to consider the actor, then shook his head and turned to lead the way down the hall. 

Tony led them to a workroom, and Tom stopped to look around in awe as everything woke up around them, screens and holographic images appearing all around the room, where nothing had existed before. He knew technology was far more advanced in this universe – he'd worked on the films, after all, and had a StarkPad that Loki had forgotten in his flat one visit, which he guarded rather jealously, on the rare occasion that he was willing to pull it out – but it was one thing to know, and another thing entirely to _see_.

"I have about a thousand questions for you, if you're willing to answer them," Tony called from a table he'd sat at some ways into the room. 

"I can try," Tom agreed willingly enough, stepping slowly towards the Avenger, eyes caught by the thousands of lights around him, hands held tight against his chest to keep from touching anything. He had rather expected a round of questions, once Loki was no longer in residence to distract them both with promise of sex. (Because, for all that Tom was willing to sleep with Tony when Loki was there, it wasn't quite the same when it was just the two of them. Whether Tony felt the same way, however...) 

"I get the sense you already know a lot about me," Tony commented, tone careless, but the glance he threw over his shoulder was anything but. 

"Loki told you there are films in my universe, ones about him and you; about _all_ of you." Tom shrugged. "I know much of your story, and Loki has filled in some gaps, or corrected information that wasn't exact." 

Something clattered against the top of the table and Tony turned his whole body on the stool he'd perched on, eyes sharp and intelligent. "Fuck, _that_. How long have you and Loki been fucking around? I thought he was leaving for one-night stands, not a fucking _relationship_."

Tom tensed and he narrowed his eyes at the Avenger. "I would rather know my lover was in another stable relationship, rather than sleeping around with other people that I would never meet," he said, voice sharper than he'd intended. But he wouldn't take his words away, just as he'd never pretended to approve of Loki's sleeping around, or hidden his pleasure when Loki had stopped. 

"At least if he's sleeping around," Tony said, voice tense and cold, "I don't have to worry about him deciding to _leave_."

"You think he'd _leave_ you? He _lo_ –" Tom snapped his mouth shut, realising that this was something Tony and Loki needed to work through on their own, no matter how painful it was to watch them tear at each other from afar. 

Tony, however, was no fool, and he was still as he worked through what Tom hadn't said, his expression completely closed. 

Tom finally reached the table, skirting around the stone-faced Avenger, and his eyes caught on the familiar shape in front of the other man's stool. "Is that– What are you doing with my _phone_?"

Tom grabbed for it, but Tony was quicker, and he grinned sharply at the actor as he slid it away. "Phone?" he said, a hint of teasing underneath the cold edge of his voice. "Looked a bit more like a paperweight to me." 

"Just because it doesn't connect to this universe's cell towers–" Tom started, irritation rising. 

"Really? You want to defend a piece of crap iPhone? _Really_?"

"I _like_ my phone–"

"iPhones are only good for one thing, and that's smashing against a concrete floor from six floors up," Tony cut in, putting a screwdriver to the phone and popping it open with an easy motion. 

Tom resisted the urge to whimper and instead grabbed for his phone again. "Just because you don't like me, Mr Stark–"

Tony moved almost as quickly as Loki could, taking Tom's chin in one calloused hand and bringing them close enough to share breath. "Oh, no, let's get something straight, _Tom_ : I like you just fine. You're hot as all fuck – not least because you look almost _exactly_ like Loki – and you have that fire I always find attractive. I don't like that Loki decided he needed to regularly share a bed with someone else, and then neglected to tell me so." He eased his grip on Tom's chin, thumb gently brushing over what would surely turn into a bruise, after a few hours. "Your phone, on the other hand, offends me; I have a rule about letting competitor's technology into my manor." 

Tom swallowed, caught by the brown eyes meeting his. "I'll need that when I get back home," he pointed out quietly, much of his ire having drained from him at Tony's calm words. 

"I'll make you a better one," Tony replied. "And it'll work _here_ , as well as in your universe, which is more than you can say for this paperweight." He raised Tom's phone a couple centimetres off the table and then dropped it, smiling sharp and wide when Tom winced at the sound. 

Then Tony looked away, back to the small tools just within his reach and Tom's phone. "How long?" he asked, continuing his questioning from before they'd begun snarling at each other. 

Tom settled on a stool that was just out of Tony's reach and shrugged. "How long has he been visiting me and sleeping on my couch, or how long have we been sleeping together?" 

Tony looked up, surprise flashing in his eyes. "There's a _difference_?"

"Yes." Tom shrugged and smiled faintly at the disbelieving shake of Tony's head. "He started sleeping on my couch shortly after you almost died, though we'd known each other previously. We hadn't really got on," he added when Tony raised an eyebrow at him. "We didn't start sleeping together until the middle of December. The thirteenth, I think? It's on my phone, if you can _not_ destroy all my personal information while you're upgrading me." 

Tony turned back to Tom's phone, shaking his head. "I can understand him not telling me he'd made a friend," he allowed, "but that's still almost five months he hid you two from me." There was something bitter in his tone, something Tom wasn't sure he was supposed to notice. 

Tom reached out and picked up the back plate of his mobile, turning it between his fingers for something to hold on to. "What would you have done, had he told you?" he asked. 

Tony's hands faltered, but he didn't speak, head ducked down to hide his expression. 

Tom glanced down at the thin metal in his hands, thumb rubbing over the familiar apple with a bite in it. "How'd you get him to agree to condoms?" he asked, the question coming to him. 

Tony's head rose just enough that Tom could see the brown eyes, glinting with amusement. "It's my rule. I know his immune system, or whatever, keeps him from getting any STDs, but that doesn't mean he couldn't be a carrier, one direction or another. He still tries to trick me into forgetting, sometimes." His head came up the rest of the way, meeting Tom's eyes directly. "You can't just let him walk all over you about it, not if you're going to be safe." 

Tom shrugged. "He's my only partner, and you're the only other person he's sleeping with–"

"No, I'm not," Tony insisted, sitting up straight. "He's–"

Tom just stared at him, not speaking. 

Tony huffed. "God of lies. He probably told you that just to get in your pan–"

"He didn't," Tom said quietly, certainly. "He gave up trying with me before he stopped visiting other universes to sleep with people." 

"How can you be _certain_?" Tony demanded, something a little like fear in his eyes. "Maybe he just–"

"Mr Stark," Tom interrupted, calm and polite, "you have to understand, until he and I came to an accord, Loki never searched out my universe. He always fell into it, from another universe. Even after he started seeking me out, he'd fall into my universe from time-to-time. He was always sick, always miserable and cold and an absolute mess. I know he stopped sleeping around, because he stopped falling. And he started visiting me more, spending time he would have used sleeping around with others, to suffer my couch." 

Tom was silent for a moment, watching Tony process his words. Then he added, quiet and firm in the same way he so often was with Loki, "It's just been you, and me, for almost a year. No one else." 

Tony jerked into action, focussing his attention on the pieces of Tom's mobile, on the new one he was building off to one side. 

It was almost fifteen minutes later when Tony asked, "He tells you things? Things he won't tell anyone else?" 

Tom shifted on his stool. "Yes." 

"He told you about the fire? About how I almost died?" 

"Yes." 

"He told you why I'm not dead." Tony met his eyes, his tone turning what should have been a question into a statement. 

Tom swallowed, rubbed his thumb along the edge of the plating in his hand. "Yes." 

Tony let out a sharp breath. "It was him. I _know_ it was him." 

Tom shrugged. "Mr Sta–"

"I swear to God, if you don't start using my first name–"

" _Tony_ ," Tom interrupted, rolling his eyes. The inventor grinned at him, but there remained a tenseness to him. "I can't break his confidence like that, b–"

"I really shouldn't be surprised that–"

" _But_!" Tom said, raising his voice over the other, frowning as Tony scowled back at him. "But, I am a terrible liar. If you were to, say, _guess_ what had occurred..." 

Tony's eyes narrowed. "You might 'accidentally' give it away?" 

Tom smiled. "You would hardly be the first person to use the tactic on me." And Tom's didn't think it entirely fair that Tony still didn't know what Loki had done for him, anyway. 

Tony dropped his chin into one palm and braced his elbow against the table top, considering Tom for a long moment before saying, "Thor was oddly tight-lipped, for him, but I assume he's trying to get back on Loki's good side. I did manage to get him to admit it's something he could have done, had he thought of it. And I know he's begun treating me a bit more like he does Steve, like I won't break if he pokes me too hard. Which is really _weird_ , and I'm not the only person to have noticed, so..." The inventor trailed off for a long moment, eyes searching Tom's face for any reaction, any sign of a hint. 

"I thought it was magic, but then Thor said he could have done it. I've heard some about Asgardian magical potions and such, but I'm pretty sure they don't have anything strong...enough..." He trailed off as Tom bit his lip hard, trying to keep silent, because the other was _so close_ , yet not close at all. "They _do_ have a potion strong enough?" 

Tom shrugged, because that one he could outright answer without it feeling like a betrayal. 

Tony considered that for a moment. "But it's something edible." 

Tom swallowed and chewed at his lip. 

Tony turned to stare at the nearest holographic screen. "JARVIS, help me out here. Anything about a Fountain of Youth in the Norse myths?" 

_"There are golden apples, Sir, which are said to provide the gods with their immortality."_

Tony had turned back to Tom when JARVIS had started talking, so there was no way he could have missed the way Tom's eyes darted to the side and his lips twitched before he managed to suppress the smile that wanted to curl his mouth. 

The inventor let out a heavy breath and he leaned back on his stool, staring at Tom. "Golden apples?" 

Tom allowed the slightest hint of a nod. 

Tony was off his stool and stalking around the room in a flash, flinging his hands at holographic images as he passed them, making them go flying across the room, or simply winking out of existence. It wasn't until he was at the far end of the room, nothing but tables between him and Tom, that he asked, "So I'm what? I'm _immortal_ now?" 

_"Likely, Sir, you are only as durable as Thor and Loki are,"_ JARVIS commented, mechanical voice bland. 

Anger flashed in Tony's eyes, then, and he motioned with his hand, an image forming in it. He threw whatever he'd just created, towards the pile of screens and cars and armours and everything else against one wall. As soon as the object connected, everything exploded. 

Tom knew it was just light, that it couldn't hurt him, but he still ducked his head, hiding against the table top. 

"He should have _asked_!" Tony shouted, throwing another holographic bomb at the other huddle of screens and such. "He should have–!" He paused in the act of throwing the third bomb, aimed at the door, and turned to stare at it for a moment before letting it drop from his hand. It vanished before it would have touched the floor, and the inventor rubbed his hands over his face, starting his way back towards where Tom was still sitting, clutching his old phone case hard enough to leave marks on his skin. 

When he was close enough that he could be heard, in spite of his tired voice, Tony asked, "Why didn't he tell me?" 

Tom warred with himself for a moment, his promise of silence against his need to help Tony understand. It was the knowledge that Loki would never tell Tony, and it might well break them apart, that had Tom quietly admitting, "His pride." 

"His _pri_ – Oh. My. Go–!"

"The apple came from Asgard," Tom hurried to say. "Loki had to go himself. To Asgard. He had to ask Odin, in front of the whole court." 

Tony's eyes widened, understanding breaking over him with a rush. He stared at Tom for a long moment, opening his mouth a few times, but not managing any words. 

Tom looked away, smiling a sad little smile down at the back plate of his iPhone. "It's funny, sometimes, how he can get things so very wrong, trying to cover up that he did something so very right." 

"He loves me," Tony breathed out, something like awe in the words. 

Tom glanced up at him, not saying anything in response. 

But that seemed to be answer enough, for Tony let out a heavy breath and boosted himself back onto his stool, fingers doing a familiar dance over the scattered pieces of mobile phone. 

"Do you..." Tom swallowed his apprehension; this was likely the only chance he'd get to ask the inventor the question that had plagued him since he assured Loki that Tony loved him back. "Do you love him?" 

Tony's hands stilled for a moment before they started moving again. "When he left, when Amora attacked his apartment and we all thought he was dead..." He shuddered. "I didn't know what to do with myself. I was so, so lost. And then he was back, completely unbothered, and I just–" He laughed, sharp and a little broken around the edges. "I wanted to hit him, but I was really just so... It was like being back in Afghanistan, like that moment when Yinsen gave me something to live for, except..." 

Tom nodded, not completely sure he understood the exact sensation, but familiar enough with the sense of loving Loki to know what the other was dancing around. 

Tony flicked his eyes up, a quick glance, then asked, "Do you?" 

"Yes," Tom said, no hesitation. But, then, he'd come to terms with his feelings over five months ago, and he'd never been the sort of person to hide how he felt about another. 

"Does he love you?" Tony asked next, a strain to the words. 

"I haven't asked," Tom admitted, "and he hasn't volunteered." 

"And you're okay with that?" Tony asked, finally focussing on Tom again, brow furrowed. 

Tom shrugged. "Some of us weren't given a golden apple," he pointed out quietly, and Tony's mouth kicked up at one corner with a bitter smile. "Is it wrong that I'm more at peace with it now?" 

"Why?" 

"Because I know he's got you." 

Tony stared at him for a long moment, eyes wide with disbelief, then he breathed, "Oh my God. You're like a super twisted version of Captain America who has Loki's face." 

Tom burst out laughing. Tony joined him after a moment, and the last of the tension bled from the room, leaving them with occasional chuckles and friendly smiles as Tony asked more personal questions about Tom and finished working on the new phone. 

Tony was about halfway through showing Tom some of the new features, when JARVIS announced, _"Sir, Loki is awake and headed for the kitchen. Captain Rogers and Dr Banner are both already in there, and Thor is waking."_

Tony grimaced and handed the mobile over as he pushed back, off his stool. "Where are Clint and 'Tasha?" 

_"Agent Barton is currently in the ducts in the gym, running a training exercise with Agent Romanov."_

Tony nodded. "Have them meet us in the kitchen. And don't tell Thor that Loki's back until I'm sure Loki has pants on." 

_"Of course, Sir."_

Tom raised an eyebrow at Tony as they started for the exit of the lab. "Loki likes to walk around naked?" 

"In the mornings, yeah. He does it to freak out Clint. And because Cap gets a bit twitchy at the mention of sex. I take it he usually wears pants with you?" 

"I told him he needed to wear trousers outside the bedroom if he wanted coffee for breakfast." 

Tony snickered. "You've got one of the older coffee machines, don't you?" 

"He set it on fire, once, it annoyed him so much." 

Tony was just calming down from a long laugh when they entered the kitchen, and the way Banner and Rogers' eyes widened at the sight of Tom set him off again. 

Tom shook his head and walked over to where Loki was bent over in front if the fridge, watching them from over his shoulder, arse naked and high in the air. The actor set his hand at the small of the god's back and requested, "Trousers, darling." 

Loki smirked at him. "Ah, were you not enjoying the view, Thomas?" 

"I don't like _sharing_ the view," Tom corrected him, more amused than bothered. "Tony is one thing, the rest of the Avengers another." 

"Also, Thor's probably on his way," Tony offered, his amusement under control for the moment. He did take the chance to slap Loki's arse on his way to the ridiculously impressive coffee machine taking up most of the worktop on one side of the sink. "Tom, pick your poison." 

"Just black, please," Tom replied as Loki stood from the fridge and trousers materialised around his lower half. Then the god was in his space, one arm curling possessively around Tom's waist. "Good morning," the human offered with a fond smile. 

Loki leaned their foreheads together, noses nudging. "Where were you two?" he asked. 

Tom rolled his eyes, knowing he was getting the questions because he couldn't lie. "Tony was, ah, 'fixing' my mobile." 

Loki huffed a laugh. "Indeed. And what did you speak of?" 

"Tony wanted to know about me. It was only fair." Tom nudged the god's nose with his. 

"Yeah. I can't decide if I like him more for his looks, or his brain," Tony interrupted, waving a cup of coffee next to their heads and holding it towards Tom when they pulled apart. "Either way, I'm keeping him. Go make your own coffee so I can molest him against the counter." 

Tom flushed while Loki let out a sharp laugh, eyes bright and amused. From the table, either Banner or Rogers let out a helpless sound, and a glance over there showed Rogers with his head in his hands. 

"Holy fucking _shit_ ," a voice snapped from the doorway. "Tell me that hit to my head has got me seeing double, and there aren't _two_ Lokis in the kitchen?" 

Barton and Romanov had entered the kitchen, Tom saw. Barton looked more than a little horrified, but Romanov was watching them with the sharp eyes of a trained assassin and Tom couldn't help but swallow and lean a little closer to Loki. He rather wished, now, that he'd grabbed his shirt on the way out of Tony's room before they got to the workshop, because he felt distressingly naked under her eyes. 

"Brother!" a voice boomed, and a man that could only be Thor appeared in the doorway behind the two SHIELD agents, mouth split with a wide smile. The smile turned a bit confused when he realised there were _two_ men in the kitchen with Loki's face. "Loki?" 

Loki let out a heavy sigh. "Good morn, Thor." His arms slid around Tom's waist from behind and he rested his chin on the actor's shoulder. "Everyone, this is Thomas, a mortal I brought from another universe. He is a film actor." 

"And stage," Tom insisted, forever determined to make sure people knew he did both. As hard as it was for him to get jobs acting on stage when he was constantly being bombarded by film offers. 

"Another _universe_?" Banner requested, voice mild. 

"Alternate dimensions sort of thing," Tony offered with an absent wave of one hand. "Apparently Loki's been hopping around, causing mayhem in other universes. 

"Oh, God," Rogers breathed, rubbing a hand down his face. 

"Worry not, Captain, I caused no difficulty your other selves were incapable of solving." 

"That's not reassuring." 

Tony snorted and tugged on Tom's arm. "Come on. I'm tired of standing around like a circus show when there are plenty of chairs for all of us. Also, Thor looks like he's about to bowl _all_ of us over to get at Prancer." 

Loki let out a heavy sigh, but he let Tom go, leaving him to Tony's care. Which wasn't as poor a plan as it might have sounded, not with the bright smile the inventor wore as he saw everyone settled around the table, making sure Loki and he would be buffers on either side of Tom. 

"Guys," Tony said to the other Avengers while Loki suffered through a hug from Thor behind them, "this is Tom. He's scary-good with the English language and has a moral compass so like Steve's, it's beyond creepy. Barton, I swear to God, if you so much as _point_ an arrow at him, I'm revoking your access to the ducts for the next year. Capisce?" 

"Can he do that?" Barton asked the table. 

"He can," Banner offered, smiling faintly and reaching a hand around Tony to Tom. "Bruce Banner." 

"A pleasure," Tom replied, shaking the man's hand. 

"And if he can't, I _can_ ," Loki offered as he settled in at Tom's free side. "And, Clinton, you'd best pray Anthony finds your misdeeds first, for his punishments will be little compared to–"

"Loki," Tom interrupted, amused and watching the way Barton's eyes narrowed while sweat beaded along his forehead. He rested a hand on the god's thigh, giving a gentle squeeze. "Introduce me to Thor." 

Loki shot him a look, one that said 'I _know_ what you're doing, wretch,' but turned to Thor all the same, saying, "Thor, this is Thomas Hiddleston, a performer of some repute in his world. Thomas, First Prince of Asgard, Thor Odinson." 

"Why does Thor get the formal introduction?" Tony complained as Thor and Tom traded polite nods. 

Tom turned to him, then, widening his eyes in a way he knew made him appear almost disgustingly innocent and concerned, and asked, "Was the blowjob too informal?" 

Everyone was absolutely still for a long moment, then Tony burst out laughing, leaning forward to rest his forehead against Tom's shoulder. Tom could feel Loki's quiet chuckle through his thigh, and Thor and Banner both let out noises of amusement themselves, while Rogers moaned and hid his face in his hands. 

"Oh, God, now there's _three_ of them," Barton complained, and Tom tipped him a wink. 

Then Tony leaned up, breath hot against Tom's ear, and he whispered, "If you don't greet me with a blowjob next time Loki brings you for a visit, I'm tying you to the foot of the bed and making you _watch_ as Loki fucks me. Slowly. For _hours_."

Tom knew his face was on fire, but he found himself rather enjoying it. Arguments over phones and how many people they should be sleeping with aside, he found that he actually rather enjoyed Tony Stark. 

Judging by the glint of amusement in Tony's dark eyes, the feeling was entirely mutual. 

**Author's Note:**

> I have no intentions, at this time, to continue this little incidental series, but there's a couple ideas niggling at the back of my mind that I might tackle, eventually, and there's something to be said for bringing both my _Avengers_ OTPs together. XD


End file.
